98 Eclipse GS-T lean all the time

[dsmalaska]

Alright so I have a 1998 Eclipse GS-T and 2 weeks ago it was staying lean while driving for a little bit then it would operate normally, but now it is on the second to last peg in my air/fuel gauge on the lean side. It stays lean at idle,cruising, and while boosting. I know it's better to have a wideband but it came with the car and I don't have the money for one. My idle is horrible as well, like its missing but once I start driving its fine. My iac is bad but I've cleaned it and waiting on the paycheck to buy a new one. Any suggestions why it's always lean? Could it be an egr stuck open? My plugs were dry and slightly white when I replaced them a week ago. I'm not a newbie to cars but this is my first turbo car so need some guidance here.

 

[92AWDHX40]

That narrow band isn't gonna help get a wide band. Do a boost leak test

 

[dsmalaska]

I know narrow band won't do much, but I'd rather invest my money else where right now since I know it's running lean by checking the plugs.

 

[T-Flexx]

I had the same issue. Car came with a narrowband and it might not be super helpful but my plugs were showing lean as well. I changed my fuel filter and it helped a ton. My filter was almost completely clogged and rusty looking fuel came out once I got it off. Also you could do the fuel pump rewire mod.

 

[dsmalaska]

I'll take a look at that, where was it located? I don't have access to alldata or a manual at the moment. And I plan on doing the re-wire but never got to it guess this is a good time to do it.

 

[Spoolingaround]

I'll take a look at that, where was it located? I don't have access to alldata or a manual at the moment. And I plan on doing the re-wire but never got to it guess this is a good time to do it.

The fuel filter is on the firewall closer to the passenger seat. Look at the fuel rail and follow the line on the passenger side. It will lead to the fuel filter.

 

[dsmalaska]

So as said my lean condition slowly started over a two week period would that indicated a fuel filter getting clogged? I'm trying to figure it out with out just replacing random parts that don't need to be.

 

[Spoolingaround]

Possible. It could also be injectors. Do you have a means to test fuel pressure?

 

[jayson427]

How much boost are you running? And you need to make sure you have no exhaust leaks before the narrow band sensor.

 

[gieri002]

What turbo are you running? I don't see it in your mod list. You can easily test to see if your egr is stuck open by doing a simple boost leak test, although that would likely likely do the opposite and leave your car running rich.

 

[dsmalaska]

I don't have anything to see or test fuel pressure yet, I'm running stock t25 at 10 lbs dd and 15 lbs when I wanna go fast. I just fixed a broken coolant hose behind the exhaust manifold and it should be sealed, but I'll double check for loose bolts and gaps. I'm running my narrow band off of the front o2 sensor. So not a lot of places for a leak to happen before that.

Further inspection of parts revealed my intake manifold has a hairline crack across the bottom where it bolts into the engine, idk if its enough to make problems but it's been running fine till 2 weeks ago and I haven't done anything crazy to cause the intake to crack.

I was able to get a scan tool and pull codes and I had 2 codes for insufficient coolant temp for closed loop and 1 for my front o2 sensor, I always came upon that when I hit a bump my air/fuel gauge moves. If I slam my door or hood it'll move to rich then lean. It was flickering stoichiometric a little sometimes but I believe that was vibrations causing it. I need to look closer At my sensors wires and test my o2 to see if its working and my ecu is receiving the wrong signal. Any ideas on the coolant? Also looked at my fuel filter and it has fluid on it, wasn't able to smell it but it looked fresh like gas had leaked out somehow. But nonetheless, I'll try to get back with more detailed responses that I find.